Automatic edge trimmers



April 1, 1969 H. A. IMHOF AUTOMATIC EDGE TRIMMERS led April 19, 1967 Iof 9 Sheet fizz/en for Herman/l lm/vof' By his/ Norway April 1, 1969 H.A IM HOF AUTOMATIC EDGE TRIMMERS Sheet 2 01'9 Filed 'April 19, 1967April 1, 1969 H. A. IMHOF AUTOMATIC EDGE TRIMMERS Sheet Filed April 19,1967 April 1, 1969 H. A. IMHOF AUTOMATIC EDGE TRIMMERS Sheet Filed April19, 19 67 April 1, 1969 H. A. lMHOF 3,435,474

AUTOMATIC EDGE TRIMMERS Filed April 19, 1967 Sheet 5 of 9 April 1, 1969H. A. lMHOF AUTOMATIC EDGE TRIMMERS Sheet 6 of Filed April 19, 1967April 1, 1969 H. A. IMHOF AUTOMATI C EDGE TRIMMER S Sheet Filed April19, 1967 I H. A. lMHOF AUTOMATIC EDGE TRIMMERS April 1, 19 9 Filed April19,1967

Api'il 1, 1969 H. A. lMHOF AUTOMATIC EDGE TRIMMEHS Sheet Filed April 19,1967 wNh NNQ United States Patent 0 U.S. Cl. 12-89 8 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A through feed finishing machine for unattached shoesoles having biased rotatable tools mounted in pairs for operation onopposite sides of the soles. Each rotating tool is powered by anindividual motor and each tool is provided with a pressure equalizingmeans mounted opposite the tool to assist in keeping the sole movingalong a path through the machine during the operation resulting in auniform cut. The sole is urged at a uniform speed through the machine byknurled drive rolls and holddown rolls acting in pairs, placed along thepath of travel at positions closer together than the shortest sole to befinished.

Background of the invention Field of the invention-This inventionrelates to shoe machines and in particular to machines whichautomatically perform finishing operations upon unattached shoe soles.

Description of the prior art-Finishing operations upon shoe soles, bothinsoles and outsoles, have previously been performed in separate anddistinct steps, each requiring constant attention of a skilled operator.For example, edge trimming, even though done on an automatic machine,has required an operator to place each sole upon the machine and thenremove the same following the operation. The addition of the time forindividual operators to burnish, ink and size stamp the soles hasresulted in a time consuming and expensive operation.

. Summary of the invention It is one of the objects of this invention toproduce a machine for performing several finishing operations on anunattached shoe sole automatically without the constant attention of anoperator.

Another object of this invention is to produce an automatic machine forsequentially performing finishing operations upon shoe soles independentof the particular style or size, the only exception being when theoperation includes size stamping.

The subject machine operates upon a through feed principle,automatically feeding unattached soles from a magazine, and each soletravels through the machine leaving each operation with the sameorientation with which it entered.

High fashion shoes incorporate soles, both inner and outer, which have adefinitive profile adding materially to the overall appearance of theshoe. The profile of the outsole may consist of a sloping, curved orgrooved surface along the outer edge of the sole and is usuallyincorporated during the finishing operations as opposed to the roughforming operation.

As a feature of this invention, the machine includes an automatic stackfeed device upon which the operator may place a stack of unattachedsoles, the only consideration being that the soles be placed -with theside which will be exposed in .the finished shoe upwardly and the toefacing toward the machine. The feeding device automatically orients thesole such that a line passing along the heel-toe axis will travel alongthe direction of feed.

3,435,474 Patented Apr. 1, 1969 ice The feeding mechanism alsosequentially and individually feeds soles at the appropriate time toprevent jamming or overlapping of the soles during the variousoperations.

The shoe sole moving along a line through the heeltoe axis sequentiallypasses through individual finishing operations. Each individualfinishing operation is achieved on a through feed principle andindependently of other operations, enabling any of the operations to beeliminated from the total machine without alfecting the remainingoperations. The sole as it passes through the various operations isretained in the same orientation originally imparted to it by the feedmechanism by the coaction of knurled feed rolls to move the solesbetween operations and pressure equalizing mechanisms to counterbalancedisorienting pressures generated during the finishing operations. Theknurled feed rolls acting in conjunction with backup rolls are placedalong the path of travel of the sole at a distance less than the lengthof the shortest sole to be finished. The sole passe between the rollsand is thus urged forward at a constant speed, being under the controlof one of these pairs of rolls at all times. Flexing of the sole issimultaneously minimized by the positive control imparted by the feedand backup rolls.

The illustrative machine, although not to be considered definitive,includes for accomplishing the finishing operations, a trimmingmechanism which uniformly removes material from the edges of pre-stampedsoles as well as imparting fashion characteristics such as edge profilethereto, if such is desired.

To assure that the trimming operation uniformly includes the entiresole, two separate abrasive wheels are used, each abrasive wheel beingdriven by an individual motor which substantially divorces the operationon one side of the sole from influences of the operation on the other.The abrasive wheels are located on opposite sides of ,the line of travelalong the line of feed and have slightly overlapping strokes. Since theabrasive wheels are not directly opposite each other and are mounted oninwardly biased arms, means are provided for counterbalancing thepressure and assuring that ,the sole continues to move along a linethrough its heel-toe axis.

Following the trimming mechanism in the illustrative machine is theburnishing mechanism which mechanism removes dust left during thetrimming operation as well as smoothing points of unevenness left by theabrasive wheels. The burnishing operation, having removed the dust,leaves the sole, in this instance the outsole, in proper physicalcondition to receive ink along ,the outer edge. If the inking isfollowed by a stamping operation which places the appropriate size stampon the sole, the sole leaves the machine in a condition ready forattachment to a shoe upper.

Pneumatic means are provided to initiate the operation and to assure aproper time sequence which will utilize the machine to its maximumcapabilities.

The above and other features of the invention, including various noveldetails of construction and combinations of parts will now be moreparticularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings andpointed out in the claims.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 3 is a plan view of the feedmechanism for themachine;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the positions of the partsduring a feeding cycle;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the feedactuating cylinder during one of the feeding operations;

FIG. -6 is a side elevation view of a portion of the illustrativemachine showing mechanisms for trimming and burnishing;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the trimming portion of the machine;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of one of the bul'nishing wheels;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of a portion of the illustrative machineshowing a mechanism for inking and stamping;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the portion of the machine shown in FIG. 10.

Description of the preferred embodiments FIG. 1 shows the relativearrangement of the mechanisms of the illustrative machine and includesat the uppermost portion of the figure a feed mechanism F where a stackof unattached soles may be placed .to be automatically fed to theoperating portions of the machine. As an unattached sole leaves the feedmechanism F traveling toward the lower right hand corner of the figure,it will sequentially pass through a trimming mechanism T, a burnishingmechanism B, an inking mechanism 1, and a marking station M. Through theuse of this machine, a stack of soles which have been roughly diepunchedto size are placed by an operator at the feeding station F and when theyare released at the exit end of the machine, they are completelyfinished and ready to be attached to a shoe.

Feed mechanism The illustrative machine includes a plate 2 forsupporting the soles throughout the finishing operation, the plate beingsupported by legs L carried by a base plate P. A stack of soles isplaced by an operator upon the plate 2 at the feeding station F (seenbest in FIGS. l5) with regard only as to having the soles right side upand .toe forward. To keep the soles in a stack and properly positionedfor feeding, a V-shaped gate 4 is adjustably attached to the plate 2 byscrews 6 passing through slots 8 in gate 4 and attached to uprights 10welded to plate 2. The gate 4 is adjusted in accordance with thethickness of the passage of a single sole thereunder.

To further assist in maintaining the stack of soles in proper positionfor automatic feeding, there is provided in the illustrative machine aweight 12 in the form of a bar. The bar is designed to constantlyprovide a downward force upon the stack of soles and is suspended abovethe feeding device by a means not a part of this invention and thereforenot shown.

The driving mechanism comprises a reciprocable feed plate 14 having apair of forwardly extending parallel spaced legs 16, 18 (FIGS. 3 and 4)encompassing a V- notch of sufficient width to cradle the heel of a soleand having a depending bracket 20 at its rearward end. Slidablyoverlying the plate 14 and having approximately the same shape is analigning plate 22 which is urged to move with the plate 14 by means ofsprings 24 and 26 which pull the aligning plate forward against the nextoutsole to be fed. The plate 22 is moved rearwardly with the plate 14 byupstanding pins on the plate 14. Both plates 14 and 22 are mounted forcontrolled reciprocal motion between grooved guides 27 attached inparallel along the opposite sides of the plate 2. The depending bracket20' of feed plate 14 is rigidly attached to a piston rod of a pneumaticcylinder mounted beneath the plate 2 which cylinder provides thenecessary motivation for feeding.

The cylinder 38 is a double acting pneumatic motor having a piston rod40 and two inlets 42, 44. When air is introduced to the forward inlet42, the piston rod 40 is forced into the cylinder 38 and when air isintroduced to the inlet 44, the piston rod 40 is forced out of thecylinder 38.

When the machine is ready to receive a sole for finishing, the plate 1 4is actuated. The forward movement of the plate 14 causes it to abut thelowermost sole, the heel of the sole being cradled by the V-notch, andto move the sole beneath the gate 4. As the plate 14 is moved forwardly,tension is put upon springs 24, 26 pulling plate 22 to a more forwardposition.

Plate 22 having a V-shaped groove in its forwardmost edge serves thefunction of aligning the second from the bottom sole by corralling thesole between the plate 22 and the gate 4 in preparation to be fed by theplate 14, see FIGS. 4 and 5.

As the sole leaves the feed mechanism, passing under the gate 4 ittravels beneath a roller 28 which is biased downwardly into cooperativerelationship with a knurled drive roll by means of springs 30. Roller 28is mounted upon a pair of arms 32 pivoted about pins 34 to assure easein vertical movement in response to the passage of a sole S thereunder.

Secured to the rearward ends of the arms 32 and passing through the mainplate 2 are downwardly and rearwardly extending arms 33 interconnectedby a cross arm 3-5 carrying a cam member 36 for a purpose to be laterdescribed.

To insure proper timing of the feed mechanism with respect to thefinishing operations, the depending tab 20 includes at its lowermost enda double acting switch 46 intimately connected to the pneumatic lineswhich communicate with the cylinder 38. When the double acting switch 46is in the position shown in FIG. 2, air is ad mitted through the inlet42 drawing the piston rod 40, depending tab 20 and feed plate 14 to theright thus feeding another sole S into the machine. As the sole passesbeneath the roller 28 it pivots arms 32 and 33 with the attached cammember 36 in a counterclockwise direction. When the piston rod 40 hasreached its innermost position the double acting switch 46 is adjacentto the sloping cam member 36.

As the sole S advances to a position where it is no longer under theroller 28, said roller drops back to contact the knurled drive roll 100.

The movement of the arms 32 and 33 in a clockwise direction brings thesloping cam member 36 to its uppermost position. The upward movement ofthe cam member 36 causes the double acting switch 46 to reverse and thusair is forced into the inlet 44 moving the piston rod 40 to itsoutermost position. To assure continuous feed of outsoles, the pistonrod 40 advances to its outermost position at which time the doubleacting switch contacts a stationary bracket 48 which automaticallyreverses the double acting switch and restarts the cycle. The feedingcycle will continue without operator care until such time as there areno soles remaining behind gate 4, at which time the weight 12 willprevent further reciprocation of the feeder plate 14.

As the unattached outsole leaves the above described feed mechanism F ofthe illustrative mechanism, and passes beneath the roller 28, itlikewise leaves the control of the feed plate 14. Further forwardmovement of the sole is provided by the knurled drive roll 100. Thecombination of the roller 28 which is downwardly biased and the knurleddrive roll 100 keeps the sole uniformly moving along a line passingthrough the heel-toe axis, even though it no longer is engaged by thefeed plate 14.

Because of the relative flexibility of the soles as well as their smallmass, the support plate 2 is as continuous as possible with theaforementioned and following knurled drive rolls extending through smallrectangular openings 50 in the plate 2. The sole is kept in a relativelyhorizontal position by the coaction of the knurled drive rolls whichhave their uppermost surfaces generally tangential to the upper surfaceof plate 2 and downwardly biased rollers acting in vertical planes tokeep the sole in contact with the drive rolls.

As an added means for keeping the flexible outsoles against the supportplate 2, there is provided an overlying plate 102 (FIGS. 2, 4, 6l0)which is placed at a sufiicient distance above the plate 2 to allow freemovement of the soles and yet close enough to prevent warping, buckling,or bending of the flexible sole S during the finishing operations to beperformed thereupon.

Spaced along the line of travel of the sole at points closer togetherthan the lentgh of the shortest sole to be finished are furthercombinations of downwardly biased roller and knurled drive rollsincluding rollers 104, 106 and knurled drive rolls 108, 110. Because itis important that the soles pass through the finishing operations at aconstant speed, each of the drive rolls 100, 108 and 110 is driven bythe same motor 112 by means of a chain 114 and equal size sprocket-s116, 118, and 1-20 keyed to the shafts of drive wheels 100, 108, and110, respectively. It is to be noted that a spring loaded sprocket 111is used to keep a continuous tension upon the chain 114 avoiding speedfluctuations caused by a slack chain.

*Further operations may require additional motivating means to avoidoverloading the motor. In the illustrative mechanism (best seen in FIG.an additional motor 332 is used to drive a final knurled drive roll 302and a stamping roll 326. The knurled roll 302 and the sampling roll 326rotate at the same speed as the other driving rolls since the motor 332is a twin of the motor 112, and the sprockets 303, 327 which are keyedto the rolls and joined to the motor by chain 334 are the same size asthe other drive sprockets.

Trimming and burnishing In the illustrative machine the first finishingoperation performed on the sole S is the trimming operation. Thisoperation is accomplished by means of a pair of rapidly rotatingabrasive cylinders 122 and 124 (FIGS. 7 and 8) having a peripheral shapecomplemental to the shape to be imparted to the shoe sole, i.e.,sloping, grooved, etc. The abrasive cylinders which extend through androtate within appropriately placed slots 123 and 125 in plates 2 and102, are directly driven by means of identical air motors 126, 12 8(FIG. 6) rigidly attached to the outer ends of swinging arms 130, 132.Because each of the abrasive cylinders must finish one side of the solethey must be able to move freely toward and away from the line alongwhich the toe end foremost sole passes. Likewise, since it is importantthat the shoe sole have a uniform amount of material removed from itsperiphery, it is necessary that the combination of the two abrasivecylinders pass along substantially the entire length of said edge.

The removal of a uniform amount of material, without distorting the soleby excess pressure, is accomplished by using separate identical motorfor each abrasive cylinder to assure a constant speed of rotation incombination with a constant inward pressure sufi'icient to hold the toolin contact with the sole without bending the edge of the sole.Appropriate coverage of the entire shoe sole is accomplished by placingthe abrasive cylinders and their attached motors not directly oppositeeach other, but mounting each on separate rotatable, inwardly biasedarms, one slightly downstream of the other, allowing each cylinder toreach a little beyond the heel-toe axis during its operation.

It is evident that placing a mass of any size on the end of an arm to bepivoted presents problems of control because of the force momentgenerated-thereby. In particular, the motors 126, 128 and their attachedabrasive cylinders 122, 124 located upon the ends of arms 130, 132present a formidable mass which will obviously tend to stay at rest whenat rest and also to continue any motion once begun. This tendencypresents a problem at three critical times; first when the rapidlytravelingsole initially contacts the abrasive cylinder, and secondlywhen the sole has an indentation, i.e., at the shank, and lastly whenthe heel end of the sole is at the abrasive tool. When the soleinitially contacts the abrasive cylinder the impact tends to cause thecylinder to bounce away from the sole, a reaction which would causeuneven removal of material. To counteract this undesirable reactionthere has been provided on each arm a dash pot 134, 136 with a one Wayvalve, allowing the arm and its supported motor and abrasive cylinder tomove toward the line of travel without resistance and yet to resist anyrapid movement away from the line of travel.

Arms and 132 are pivoted about their down-stream ends which arerespectively mounted upon upright shafts 13 8, 1-40 extending betweenthe bottom plate P and the support plate 2 (FIG. 6). Further mountedupon the upright shafts 138, 140 are torsion springs 142, 144 whichconstantly bias the arms 130, 132 toward the line of travel of the sole,assuring constant contact therewith. The use of the torsion springfurther allows easy adjustment of tension on the arm.

Because it is critical to operations further downstream that the shoesole continue traveling along a line through the center of the machineit is necessary to provide a mechanism in addition to the knurled driverolls to maintain proper orientation equalizing lateral pressuregenerated by the finishing operation. In the illustrative machine, thisend is accomplished by providing opposite each of the abrasive cylindersan inwardly biased pressure compensation wheel 146, 148 mounted upon theends of arms 150, 152. Arms 150, 152 are pivoted about the rearwardmostends and are biased toward the line of travel of the shoe sole by meansof springs 154, 156 assuring constant balancing of pressure generatedduring the trimming operation.

Because of the criticality in the position of the abrasive cylinders122, 124, when the first contact is made to assure movement to theproper side of the sole, and further because of the spring members whichbias the arms inwardly, there is provided in the illustrative machineadjustable stop members 158, 160 for the arms supporting the abrasivecylinders positively stopping inward movement thereof. Likewise, st-opmembers 162, 164 prevent the pressure equalizing mechanisms 146, 148from moving inwardly to a point where they would be forced to theincorrect side of a shoe sole.

As the sole leaves the trimming mechanism and passes between the roller104 and the drive roll 108, it enters, in the illustrative machine, theburnishing station. The burnishing mechanism, which in all essentials issimilar to the trimming mechanism, comprises a pair of identical airmotors 200, 202 mounted upon inwardly biased pivotal arms 204, 206.Directly attached to the rotating shaft of each motor is a burnishingwheel 208, 210 which has the same exterior profile as the abrasivecylinders 122, 124. The burnishing wheels smooth slight irregularitiescaused by the abrasive cylinders, i.e., at the point of overlap at thetoe of the sole and remove any dust left on the sole by said abrasivecylinders, thus leaving the sole in condition for inking. The jointfunction of removing the dust and irregularities is accomplished byproviding the burnishing wheels with a multiplicity of flat surfaces 209(FIG. 11). The flat surfaces sufficiently jar the sole to remove thedust but because of the speed of rotation and relative size of the fiatsurfaces do not impose any irregularities. It is to be noted that theburnishing wheels likewise have stops 212, 214 controlling the inwardmovement of their supporting arms and pressure equalizing means 216, 218including stop means 220, 222.

As the trimmed and burnished sole leaves the burnishing station, it ismoved forward under control of a knurled drive roll 110 and itsadjoining downwardly biased roller 106 to the inking operation.

Again at a distance along the path of travel of the sole S, less thanthe length of the shortest sole to be finished, there is located anotherdownwardly biased roller 300 and knurled drive roll 302 to urge theoutsole along the line of travel. Between roller 106 and roller 300there is mounted on the outermost end of an inwardly biased pivotal arm304 (FIGS. 1 and 9) a mechanism for applying ink to the edge along oneside of the sole S. The inking mechanism itself comprises a reservoir396, a rotating inking wheel 308 and a means for recirculating ink viaflexible tube 310. The inking wheel is of any well known materialcapable of withstanding a great deal of rubbing without material failureand yet of a consistency enabling it to transfer ink from the reservoir3% to the outer edge of the wheel 308, where it is transferred to thesole. As was the case in the mechanisms previously described, the inkingwheel is biased toward the line of travel of the sole by means of atension spring 312, and has its lateral pressure balanced by means of aninwardly biased pressure equalizing roller 314 mounted on the op positeside of the line of travel of the sole on a pivotal airrn 316 inwardlybiased by spring 318. As was the case in the previous operations, arms304 and 316 are respectively stopped from traveling beyond the line oftravel of the heel-toe axis of the sole by means of stops 320, 322.

Following the inking mechanism, above described, the outsole passes byan identical mechanism which inks the opposite side of the outsole.Since the only variation between the mechanism described in thepreceding paragraph and that which inks the opposite side of the outsoleis the fact that the inking mechanism itself and the pressure equalizingmechanism are on opposite sides, the mechanism is not described, andidentical numerals are applied to corresponding parts.

In place of the usual knurled feed roll and the downwardly biasedguiding wheel previously described, the final combination of theillustrative mechanism replaces the drive roll with a stamping roll.

The downwardly biased roller 324 holds the outsole firmly against astamping roll 326 which is adapted to receive interchangeable numerals Nto designate the size of the sole which has been finished. As thestamping roll 326 rotates the numeral N comes into contact with an inkroller 328 which lies partly submerged in ink held in a reservoir 330which is adjustably fastened to the frame beneath the support plate 2.

The drive roll 302 and stamping roll 326 are driven by a motor 332 atthe same speed as the other drive rolls through a chain 334 thusassuring a constant speed of travel of the outsole during the entirefinishing operation.

Although the illustrative machine makes no provision for handling thesoles after stamping it is well within the contemplation of thisinvention that the soles may freely drop into a proper receptacle, maybe received by a stacking mechanism placing the soles in uniformorientation for the ease of handling or may be fed onto another conveyorsystem for automatic transportation to further work stations.

It will be understood that the particular machine embodying theinvention is shown by way of illustration only and not as a limitationof the invention. The principles and features of this invention may beemployed in varied and numerous embodiments without departing from thescope of the invention, such as machines for reducing shoe soles or anyother operation adapted to the through feed principle.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine incorporating the through feed principle for automaticallyperforming finishing operation upon an unattached shoe sole comprising aflat supporting base plate, means for moving soles, one at a time alongthe base plate, a pair of finishing tools yieldably mounted in staggeredpositions on opposite sides of the base plate, means for inwardlybiasing said tools for operation upon opposite sides of a sole as itpasses through the machine along a line passing between the tools, thelimit of inward movement of one of the tools extending beyond the limitof inward movement of the other, individual driving means for each ofsaid tools and pressure equalizing means provided to counteract thepressure transverse to the line of travel generated by each of saidfinishing tools.

2. A machine as in claim 1 wherein the means for moving the sole alongthe base plate comprises in combination knurled drive rolls extendingthrough the base plate, said rolls being mounted with their axesparallel to the base plate and perpendicular to the line of travel ofthe sole, and rollers mounted on the opposite side of the base platebiased toward the drive rolls for holding the sole firmly against thedrive rolls.

3. A machine as in claim 1 including an overlying plate mounted adjacentto the base plate and spaced from said base plate to assist in keepingthe shoe sole in an essentially uniplanar configuration.

4. A machine as in claim 1 wherein said pair of finishing tools are edgetrimmers.

5. A machine as in claim 1 including a second pair of rotatable toolmeans mounted for burnishing the sole and removing excess dust.

6. A machine as in claim 1 including means for stamping the size of thesole upon the lower side of said sole during the operation.

7. A machine as in claim 1 wherein an automatic feed means is providedcomprising means to feed the soles one at a time to the machine andmeans to properly orient the sole for travel through the machine.

8. A machine as in claim 5 wherein the burnishing tool has a series offiat portions on its periphery.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,722,024 11/1955 Burke 1285.l1,987,809 1/1935 Wernmark l2l7 2,943,337 6/1960 Sweeney 1286.7

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

